In host-pathogen interactions

Mandavia, M.K., Khan, N.A., Gajera, H.P., Andharia, J.H. Parameswaran, M. Inhibitory effects of phenolic compounds on fungal metabolism in host-pathogen interactions in Fusarium wilt of cumin. Allelopathy J 2000 7 85-92. 

Some antimicrobial metabolites leached from the surface of leaves are known, namely, sclareol (182) and isosclareol (183) from Nicotiana glutinosa parthenolide (184) from Chrysanthemumpartbenium,1 6 and rugosal A (185) from Rosa rugosa,wl and so on. The possible roles of these compounds in host—pathogen interactions are discussed in the original papers. 

Plant tissue culture is an extremely useful tool for investigating biochemical and hormonal aspects of plant metabolism. Such systems have been applied to studies of host-pathogen interactions and secondary metabolism. My laboratory has been investigating the biochemical regulation of phytoalexin accumulation in host-pathogen interactions of cultured legumes. 

Thus it is clear that pectic polysaccharides isolated from plant cell walls are a family of complex macromolecules. Recent work by Albersheim and associates suggests that the pectic polymers may not serve solely as structural polymers. Fragments of pectic polymers have been implicated in host-pathogen interactions (Darvill and Albersheim, 1984) and plant morphogenesis (Tran Thanh Van et al., 1985). Thus these polysaccharides still provide considerable challenges to both chemists, biochemists, and physiologists in determining their structures and functions. 

Another application of the use of proteomics will be to study host-pathogen interactions. We have already described the use of proteomic approaches for the isolation of stage-specific proteins, several of which are likely to be important in host pathogen interactions. For example, interactions between Leishmania and its host are known, as determined by DNA microarray analysis, to modulate the expression of several host genes (Buates and Matlashewski, 2001) and in fact the interactions of several other... 

While the current state of knowledge does not permit much more than speculation concerning the molecular events at plant cell membranes in host-pathogen interactions, the application of the concepts derived from the mammalian membrane receptor-effector systems provides a unifying model which allows rationalisation of the available data and may suggest useful experimental approaches. 

Cote, F., Ham, K.-S., Hahn, M.G., and Bergman, C.W. (1998). Oligosaccharide elicitors in host-pathogen interactions generation, perception and signal transduction. In Biswas, B.B. and Das, H. (Eds), Subcellular Biochemistry, Vol. 29, Plant-microbe interactions. Plenum Press, New York, pp. 385 31. 

A number of people who were attending the Symposium for the first time commented on the open and friendly atmosphere. There is a family feeling since the community of people who work on plant lipids is still fairly small. At this Symposium however, there were several friends of the family, people accustomed to reporting their research in other areas who have much to contribute to the field of plant lipids. We think in particular of the contribution of Leo Parks on the function of sterols in yeast, the presentation of Joe Kuc on the importance of lipids in host-pathogen interactions, and the paper of Rudy Demel on the dynamics of glycerolipid, sphingolipid and sterol interaction in membranes. 

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